Learning Languages (fifth meeting)

It was that time of the week again for my meeting with Monique at Union Grounds. As usual, we started with small talk, talking about what we had been up to since our last meeting, how our workload was going and how our weekend plans turned out.

I like that our weekly meeting time has become part of our respective routines and if we were not to meet, it would seem as though something is missing from our weeks. This became apparent during our conversation. This is because Monique told me some interesting news that she is planning to enter TCU as an incoming undergraduate student next fall, after she completes her intensive English course. And through this, she suggested that we keep in touch. I told her that I would definitely keep in touch with her, especially during her transition into TCU and to give her any advice, if needed. She said that she felt a lot more comfortable knowing that I would be around.

So, our conversation this week was a little more serious than our previous ones because she asked me all about the academics at TCU, such as about the core requirements, selecting majors and minors and certain classes. I was surprised with how many of the questions to which I could give a good answer. After she asked me all of her current questions, I reminded her that she could always contact me if ever a question came up.

We then shared our experiences abroad. It was interesting because we had both been exposed to multiple cultures yet we have had so many different experiences. This is because we have traveled to different parts of the world; I have traveled around countries in Asia whereas she has traveled to countries in Europe and South America. We compared the different cuisines we’ve enjoyed and the different festivals we’ve experienced. Moreover, I learned that she actually was in Spain for 5 months last year to study Spanish.

From this, I gathered that she was good at learning languages so I asked her about her learning experience, especially since I am considering taking up Spanish. She told me she found it easier to learn Spanish than English because it is more similar to Portuguese. But she said that because I know French, another one of the romantic languages, it would be easier for me to learn Spanish. Moreover, she said that it’s easier to learn a language when you are in an environment where you need to use the language. I agreed with this because even though I had studied French for seven years in the past, I already felt that I was losing some of my French after a year of not using it. Additionally, I insist that my parents keep speaking to me in Vietnamese every time they call me so that I can retain my Vietnamese while I’m here. We also agreed that languages are hard to learn depending on the way they are taught. Moreover, we agreed there is not one specific way to teach a language because learning styles vary from person to person. This is where we ended our conversation as Monique had an errand to run. We said bye and wished each other a good week!